Chuck Schumer’s Cannabis Legalization Bill: Back to the Drawing Board by August
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Democratic senators leading a push to legalize marijuana say they are now on track to introduce legislation in the Senate before the August recess, after initially announcing plans to introduce sweeping reform legislation later this month.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.), who has led the push to legalize cannabis along with Sens. Cory Booker (DN.J.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), said in a statement on Sept Thursday that he is proud of the progress they have made before the break in early August “to bring this important law closer to its official introduction”.
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However, the long-awaited Senate bill legalizing federal cannabis has yet to simmer until the Democratic leadership drafts various provisions “with support from nearly a dozen Senate committees and input from numerous federal agencies.”
The bill, the Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act (CAOA), will remove cannabis from the federal controlled substances list and, among other things, will “help repair our criminal justice system, ensure restorative justice, protect public health, and implement responsible taxation and regulation.” . .
The announcement came after Schumer said a few weeks ago that he and the senators behind the effort intended to introduce the reform bill in late April.
“We’re hoping to do that around the end of April,” Schumer said at the time, noting that he was reaching out to “a few Republicans to see what they want.”
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Many Republicans oppose cannabis legalization, which is one of Schumer’s biggest hurdles in getting his bill through the 50-50 Senate. To secure passage, Democrats would need the support of their entire caucus and at least 10 Republicans to sidestep a likely filibuster.
RELATED: What do Republicans need in the Cannabis Legalization Act to support it?
However, some Democrats have also expressed reservations about adult-use marijuana, posing additional challenges for the party to get the required 60 votes for approval in the upper chamber.
Wyden said in a statement that it was important that the text of the law be “done well before the August recess to continue to build momentum for cannabis reform.”
RELATED: Biden unlikely to vote down Senate-approved cannabis legalization bill despite unclear stance
Thursday’s announcement comes weeks after the House of Representatives passed its own legislation, known as the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE), to remove marijuana from the federal controlled substances list.
This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.
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